Hello to all from an Israeli 'lurker',
I have enjoyed the very 'British' debate concerning publishing, RAE and
'critical' ivory towerism. But you can rest asure: things are very
similar in Israel. First, the publication industry here has gone mad. A
recent survey has shown that Israelis are
publishing (in English, a foreign language) more than ANY other country
(in papers per capita). The fact that Israel is only 14th in citation
clearly shows that the drive to publish overrides many considerations of
quality.
Our jobs here are more secure with the tenure system (still?) in place,
but this has not nurtured any tendency for critical geography. In fact
broad conformism is the best charaterisation of Israeli geographers. Part
of this can be attributed to our relatively low salaries, with most
academics needing to supplament their income with government
consultancies. One cannot be too critical and hope to get a government
job!
Still, your list, as well as the Vancouver confernece and several recent
journals are helping us in 'diffusing' critical material which may have
some long-term effect on students and faculty.
Yours, Oren Yiftachel
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oren yiftachel
geography dept, ben gurion university
beer-sheva, israel, 84105
phone: w: 972-7-647-2011; fax: 972-7-627-8991
email: [log in to unmask]
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